Baseball glove



y 1956 GOLDSMITH 2,746,050

BASEBALL GLOVE Filed July 28, 1952 IN VEN TOR.

6M JAM $5M ATTORNEYS.

nited tates BASEBALL GLOVE Hugo Goldsmith, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to Sport Products, Inc, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of flhio This invention relates to baseball gloves and is particularly directed to a novel means for supporting a glove upon the wearers hand so that the glove pocket is always properly positioned relative to the players palm. While the present invention will be discussed principally in relation to a fielders glove, it can also be embodied in a catchers or first basemans mitt.

in recent years the trend in baseball gloves has been toward gloves having an enlarged pocket, or ball entrapping area. Generally this enlargement has been accomplished by increasing the separation between the thumb and forefinger of the glove and enlarging the heavy webbing which is placed between these two members. The ball receiving pocket is formed at the base of the webbing, in the palm of the glove; and the pocket, together with the webbing, constitutes a large surface within which a ball may hit and be entrapped.

While it is considerably easier to catch a ball with this type of glove than it is with a glove having a smaller pocket, some players have'experienced difiiculty in keeping the glove positioned on their hand so that the pocket and webbing are properly supported. in older style fielding gloves, the glove pocket naturally tended to coincide with the palm of the wearers hand; however, with the newer type of glove there is a marked tendency for the pocket to be shifted from the palm outwardly beyond the wearers thumb and forefinger. This results in the gloves being improperly braced by the hand so that a number of balls may hit and then bounce out of the pocket rather than becoming ensnared therein.

This invention is directed to the concept of providing a wrist strap for supporting a glove upon the players wrist in a position ofiset from its natural position so that the pocket and web are firmly held in registry with the players palm. The wrist strap is adjustable so that the glove may be held in precisely the best position for the individual player. The present invention also contemplates 2. novel main or cross strap construction for use with the wrist strap, the two cooperating so that once set, the wrist strap adjustment need not be disturbed.

Generally, a glove constructed in accordance with this invention includes a leather front or palm face, containtag a pocket, an inner lining, padding placed between the front face and the inner lining, and a back piece which is joined to the front member and together with the inner-lining forms finger receiving pockets. The back piece is provided with a large opening to permit the insertion of the players hand, and a cross strap extends across the opening, from the little finger side of the glove to the thumb finger side for holding the players wrist against the heel of the glove. This much of the gloves construction is conventional and the exact structure constitutes no part of this invention.

In addition to these elements, however, the present glove includes a wrist strap joined to the lining of the glove and to the main cross strap, forming a restricted wrist opening which functions to provide lateral support for the glove upon the players wrist. That is, the players ice wrist is placed through the opening between the wrist strap and the thumb end of the glove, so that the palm of his hand is positioned directly beneath the pocket. The glove is held firmly in the desired position by his fingers and the wrist strap, and the pocket and web will be properly braced to retain any ball striking within them. Preferably the wrist strap is adjustable so that the exact position in which the glove is supported may be varied to suit the needs of the individual user.

To enable the player to remove his hand through the restricted opening, a releasable connection is provided between the cross strap and the rear piece near the thumb end of the glove. Locating the releasable cross strap connection at the thumb end provides the advantage that the strap may be unfastened and the players hand removed without disturbing the adjustment of the wrist strap.

Thus, with a glove constructed in accordance with this invention a player may insert his hand into the glove and adjust the wrist strap to precisely position the glove according to his needs. Thereafter, he can open the cross strap to remove and insert his hand and the wrist strap adjustment need not be troubled. Consequently the glove will always be supported in exactly the position best suited to his needs.

Other advantages of this invention will be more apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description of the drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a rear elevational view of a baseball glove constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the heel of the glove shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a partial, rear elevational view similar to Figure 1, except that the cross strap has been opened to permit removal of the wearers hand.

Figure 4 is a partial rear elevational view similar to Figure 1 showing a modification of the Wrist strap.

Figure 1 illustrates preferred form of baseball glove it embodying thepresent invention. The glove includes fingers 11 which can be of any conventional construction. Thumb 12 is formed on one end of the glove and is joined to the index finger by means of webbing 13 and leather thongs 14. An additional leather thong 15 is threaded through the end of each of the fingers 11 and functions to support the ends of these fingers against separation during the course of play.

The glove includes a front or palm face, not shown, and an inner lining 16; Suitable padding is placed between these two members andis distributed to form a pocket generally located in the palm between the thumb and the first three fingers. This pocket, together with the large webbing 13 constitutes a fairly sizeable area in which a ball may be trapped and retained in the glove. The glove also includes a rear piece 17 which is stitched or otherwise secured to the front piece and in conjunction with the inner lining delineates the finger and thumb receiving pockets. The inner lining 16 is held in place between the front face and rear member 17 by any suitable means, for example lacing 18, which is threaded through the lining and front face along the bottom edge 19 of the glove 10.

The rear piece 17 is configurated to form a large opening 20 through which a player may insert his hand, slipping his fingers into their respective pockets inthe glove. A main strap 22 passes across this opening and functions to hold the players wrist forward against the heel portion of the glove. According to this invention, main strap 22 is permanently secured to the little finger end 23 of rear piece 17 and is releasably secured to the thumb end 24 of the rear piece by any suitable means such as button 25 passing through slit 26 in the main strap. The advantage of this arrangement will be made clearer below.

A wrist strap 27, including a wide wrist engaging portion 28 and a narrower main strap engaging portion 30 is secured to the inner lining 16 in any suitable manner. In the embodiment shown, wrist strap 27 is stitched to the lining at the heel portion of theglove, a substantial distance outwardly from the little finger end of the glove toward the thumb end thereof. The wrist strap 27 together with the main strap 22 forms a restricted opening 31 for receiving the players wrist 32 as indicated in Figure 1.

Wrist strap 27 is effective to support the glove laterally upon the players Wrist in a position, skewed from its natural position so that the players palm is held directly against the ball entrapping pocket of the glove. The exact position in which the glove is supported can be adjusted in the preferred embodiment by changing the length of the wrist strap extending between the inner lining and the main strap. In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 3 the wrist strap is secured to the main strap by passing it outwardly through a slit, or opening 33, and then threading it inwardly through slit 34 and outwardly through slit 35. In order to adjust the wrist strap, it is drawn up as tightly as desired by pulling portion 30 of the strap; the strap will then be held in position by the frictional engagement of the strap and the slits 33-35 of the cross strap. The glove may be put on or removed without disturbing this adjustment by merely unbuttoning button 25 allowing cross strap 22 to open as shown in Figure 3.

A modified embodiment of the wrist strap is illustrated in Figure 4. As there shown, wrist strap 36 includes a wide wrist engaging portion 37 and a narrow cross strap engaging portion 38. The wrist strap is secured to the inner lining at a point on the heel portion, in the same manner as in the preferred embodiment. Portion 38 of the strap, however, is not threaded through a series of slits but rather is passed through one of a series of openings 40 spaced lengthwise along the cross strap. The position in which the wrist strap supports the glove upon a players wrist can be adjusted, in this embodiment, by selecting the opening through which strap portion 36 is passed and by varying the amount of the strap which is pulled outwardly through the opening before it is knotted as at 41.

As in the preferred embodiment, cross strap 22 is permanently secured to the little finger end 33 of the glove and is releasably secured as by button 25 to the thumb end. Hence even if a player should have the wrist strap drawn very tightly to form a highly constrictive opening for his wrist, his hand may be removed without untying notch 41 by merely unbuttoning button 25 and allowing the cross strap to swing open.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A baseball glove comprising a front face, a rear piece secured to the front face, an inner lining disposed intermediate the front face and the rear piece and secured to the front face, said glove including a thumb end, a little finger end, and heel portion, said rear piece being configurated to form a large opening for the insertion of a players hand, a cross strap extending across said opening, said cross strap being permanently secured to said rear piece adjacent to the little finger end'of the glove, means for releasably securing the cross strap to the rear piece at the thumb end of he glove, a wrist strap, said wrist strap being secured to said inner lining at a point on the heel portion thereof, substantially removed from the little finger end of the glove toward the thumb end, means for adjustably securing said wrist strap to said cross strap at .a point substantially removed from the little finger end of the glove toward the thumb end, said wrist strap extending across said opening and forming a sling, said sling being substantially removed from the little finger end of the glove but less than one half the distance from the little finger end of the glove to the thumb end of the glove, whereby said wrist strap and said cross strap form a restricted wrist opening at the thumb end of the glove.

2. A baseball glove comprising a front face, a rear piece secured to the front face, an inner lining disposed intermediate the front face and the rear piece and secured to the front face, said glove including a thumb end, a little finger end, and a heel portion, said rear piece being configurated to form a large opening for the insertion of a players hand, a cross strap extending across said opening, said cross strap being permanently secured to said rear piece adjacent to the little finger end of the glove, means for releasably securing the cross strap to the rear piece at the thumb end of the glove, a wrist strap, said wrist strap including a wide wrist engaging portion and a narrow strap engaging portion, said wrist engaging portion of said wrist strap being secured to said inner lining at a point on the heel portion thereof substantially removed from the little finger end of the glove toward the thumb end, said cross strap having a plurality of spaced openings formed therein, said openings being formed in said cross strap at points substantially removed from the little finger end of the glove toward the thumb end, the narrow portion of said Wrist strap being threaded through said openings and being in frictional engagement With sa d cross strap, the wide portion of said wrist strap extending across said large opening and forming a sling, said sling being substantially removed from little finger end of the glove but less than one half the distance from the little finger end of the glove to the thumb end. of the glove, whereby the wrist strap forms with said cross strap a restricted wrist opening adjacent to the thumb end of the glove.

3. A baseball glove comprising a front face, a rear piece secured to the front face, an inner lining disposed intermediate the front face and the rear piece and secured to the front face, said glove including a thumb end, a little finger end, and heel portion, said rear piece being configurated to form a large opening for the insertion of a players hand, a cross strap extending across said opening, said cross strap being permanently secured to said rear piece adjacent to the little finger end of the glove, said cross strap having a plurality of spaced apertures formed therein, said openings being formed in said cross strap at points substantially removed from the little finger end of the glove toward the thumb end, means for releasably securing the cross strap to the rear piece at the thumb end of the glove, a Wrist strap, said wrist strap including a wide wrist engaging portion and a narrow strap engaging portion, the Wide portion of said wrist strap being secured to said inner lining at a point on the heel portion thereof substantialy removed from the little finger end of the glove toward the thumb end, the narrow portion of said wrist strap passing through one of said apertures in said cross strap and being tied in place, said wrist strap extending across said large opening and forming a sling, said sling being substantially removed from the little finger end of the glove but less than one half the distance from the little finger end of the glove to the thumb end of the glove, whereby the wrist strap forms with said cross strap a restricted wrist opening adjacent to the thumb end of the glove.

4. A baseball glove comprising a front face, a rear piece secured to the front face, an inner lining disposed intermediate the front face and the rear piece and being secured to the front face, said glove including a thumb end, a little finger end, and heel portion, said rear piece being configurated to form a large opening for the insertion of a players hand, a cross strap extending across said opening, said cross strap being permanently secured to said rear piece adjacent to the little finger end of the glove, said cross strap having a plurality of spaced apertures formed therein, said openings being formed in said cross strap at points substantially removed from the little finger end of the gloove toward the thumb end,

means for releasably securing the cross strap to the rear piece at the thumb end of the glove, a wrist strap, said wrist strap being secured to said inner lining at a point on the heel portion thereof substantially removed from the little finger end of the glove toward the thumb end, a portion of said wrist strap remote from the portion of said strap secured to said lining passing through one of said apertures in said cross strap and being tied in place, said wrist strap extending across said large opening and forming a sling, said sling being substantially removed from the little finger end of the glove but less than one half the distance from the little finger end of the glove to the thumb end of the glove, whereby the wrist strap forms with said cross strap a restricted wrist opening adjacent to the thumb end of the glove, said means for releasably securing said cross strap to the rear piece being effective when opened to permit the cross strap to be turned back and the players hand removed from the glove without disturbing the attachment of said wrist strap to said cross strap.

5. A baseball glove comprising a front face, a rear piece secured to the front face, an inner lining disposed intermediate the front face and the rear piece, said glove including a thumb end, a little finger end, and a heel portion, said rear piece being configurated to form a large opening for the insertion of a players hand, a cross strap extending across said opening, said cross strap being permanently secured to said rear piece adjacent to the little finger end of the glove, means for releasably securing the cross strap to the rear piece at the thumb end of the glove, a Wrist strap, a portion of said wrist strap being secured to said inner lining at a point on the heel portion thereof substantially removed from the little finger end of the glove toward the thumb end, said cross strap having a plurality of spaced openings formed therein, said openings being formed in said cross strap at points substantially removed from the little finger end of the glove toward the thumb end, a portion of said wrist strap remote from the portion of said strap secured to said lining being threaded through said openings and being in frictional engagement with said cross strap, said wrist strap extending across said large opening and forming a sling, said sling being substantially removed from the little finger end of the glove but less than one half the distance from the little finger end of the glove to the thumb end of the glove, whereby the Wrist strap forms with said cross strap, a restricted wrist opening adjacent to the thumb end of the glove, said means for releasably securing the cross strap to the rear piece being effective when opened to permit the cross strap to be turned back and the players hand removed frorn the glove without disturbing the attachment of said wrist strap to said cross strap.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

